Dolly Parton has broken her silence on a series of ongoing health struggles, delivering a candid and characteristically warm video statement in which she revealed that issues with her immune and digestive systems have kept her from returning to the stage, and will force her to miss upcoming scheduled performances in Las Vegas.
She also acknowledged the one-year anniversary of her husband Carl’s passing, thanking fans for their well wishes in the last several months. Ever the optimist, Dolly took care to assure fans that she’s every bit as active and busy as ever, working on a Broadway musical, and continuing to record.
Dolly’s full statement is as follows:
Well, hey there, it’s Dolly, and I’m here to give you an update on a few things going on in my life.
First, it’s concerning my health, and I have some good news and a little bad news. The good news is I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day. Now, the bad news is it’s going to take me a little while before I’m up to stage performance level, because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say. And of course I can’t be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on five-inch heels — and you know that I’m going to be wearing them. Not to mention all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair, my big personality. Lord, that would make anybody swimmy-headed.
But this thing of me is like an old classic car that, once restored, can be better than ever. But when they raised the hood on this old antique, they realized that I need to rebuild my engine — my transmission is slipping, my oil pan is leaking, my muffler’s busted, my shocks and pistons need to be replaced, and for sure my spark plugs need to be changed, because you know, as well as I know, that I can’t lose my spark.
I know, I’m still crazy — but they didn’t mention nothing about my mental health.
I’ve always had problems with my kidney stones. Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple, three years, and they’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those. Hopefully I’ll be up to snuff again soon. Maybe I shouldn’t have said snuff — snuff wouldn’t be very good for either of those, would it? Plus, I wouldn’t want my lower lip to fall off on top of everything else. That’d be like losing a hubcap, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, I know I’m being silly, but I’m just trying to keep everything light and airy. They say that a happy heart is like good medicine — do you think I might be over-medicating myself right now?
But the truth is, I am still working. I still do videos, I still record, I run up and down to Dollywood now and then. And I’m working hard on getting my museum and my hotel open in Nashville later this year. I’m also spending a lot of time writing and reworking my Broadway musical — it’s called Dolly: A True Original Musical — and that’s going to be opening later in New York this fall or early winter.
Oh, I know you’re thinking, “Lord, sick or well, that girl’s always promoting something.” Well, that’s true — but that’s how you get it done.
And on a more serious note, I am truly sorry that I’m going to miss all of you who had tickets to see me in Las Vegas. You get on to Vegas and have a big time, and hopefully sometime you’ll come up to New York and maybe see my show. I’ll see you somewhere down the line.
I also want you to know that a lot of you have been concerned about me and Carl, and you were so great about that. After going through the holidays, our wedding anniversary, and the day of his death — March 3rd — you know, that was hard for me. But I will always love him, and I’ll always miss him. You would be surprised at how much your love and concern meant to me during that time. Lord, my house and my porch look like the botanical gardens with all the flowers, and my den looks like the post office with all the cards and letters. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. You have been a big part of my healing.
Speaking of Carl and my health — I remember back years ago, I was griping about something hurting, this and that. And Carl said, “Now, honey, you’ve got to remember, you’re not getting any younger.” I said, “Well, honey, you’ve got to remember that as long as there are plastic surgeons in this world, I’m not getting any older.”
Of course, plastic surgeons can make you look as good as they can on the outside — but it’s serious business when you’re talking about internal medicine. I have great doctors, I’m doing really well, and they assure me that everything I have is treatable. So I’m going with that.
I just want you to know I thank you for standing by me, and that I will always love you. Thank you.
